1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a goods handling apparatus and method, for taking out goods from a container such as a corrugated fiberboard box, a plastic container etc., which contains therein a plurality of goods.
The present invention also relates to a goods handling apparatus and method in which goods stored in a storage apparatus are shifted over to a goods take-out device.
The present invention further relates to a goods handling apparatus for taking out goods stored in boxes which constitute a plurality of goods storage sections and particularly to a goods handling apparatus which is suitably used for picking goods in a distribution center.
2. The Prior Art
(1) A prior art goods handling method and an apparatus is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei 1-192603.
In the Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei 1-192603, there are described a goods handling method and apparatus in which all goods contained in a container which stores a plurality of goods are clamped and taken out of the container, and then a part of or all of the goods are released from the clamp, so that a desired number of goods can be picked up.
(2) A prior art system relating to storing boxes arranged in steps is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Sho 59-88110.
In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Sho 59-88110, there is described a wagon which also serves as a step. This prior art system comprises a step-like wagon with a lower part of its stepped surface serving as a drawer, and a storage box with its bottom surface formed in a step-like configuration coincident with the stepped surface of the step-like wagon, the design being such that when the storage box is placed on the step-like wagon, the wagon with the storage box forms a cube and is able to be stored under a top plate of a cooking table, etc.
(3) A prior art system relating to a goods handling apparatus, including a goods drop-out device, is described for example in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. Sho 63-175622. The prior art described in this publication will now be described. The goods drop-out device described in this publication includes a feed plate on which goods are fed in an orderly arrangement of a plurality of rows, a drop-out port formed on the feed plate and serving to discharge the goods therethrough, a gate plate for opening and shutting the drop-out port, and an activating device for opening and shutting the gate plate, the drop-out port being controlled to be opened and shut to the extent corresponding to a required number of goods. According to this known apparatus, goods fed to the drop-out port in an orderly arrangement of a plurality of rows can be dropped out in a required number by opening the drop-out port to the extent corresponding to the required number of goods in accordance with drop-out instructions.
The prior art described in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei 1-192603 has the following problems.
As a multihand system comprising a plurality of clamping heads arranged in such a manner as to correspond to the arrangement of a stored state of goods in order to clamp a plurality of goods contained in a container is required for the exclusive use of each goods, the cost becomes high.
Nevertheless, assuming that after the goods have been shifted to a goods storage device of the present invention using this multihand, those goods are to be taken out in a goods storage section unit, the goods which are still in the arrangement of the stored state in the container are directly shifted to the goods storage device. As a result, in case the arrangement is three rows or more, the construction of the device for taking out the goods in the goods storage section unit becomes very complicated. Also, in case a plurality of goods drop-out devices each having goods storage sections arranged in the same manner as the arrangement of the goods contained in the container are arranged side by side in a plurality of rows, the entire dimension of the overall goods drop-out devices cannot be limited to integral multiples of the dimension of each container. Instead, the entire overall dimension becomes integral multiples of a dimension obtained by adding the dimension of each container to the dimensions of the shutter and its actuator, and as a result, the system becomes extremely large and various inconveniences are encountered in layout.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a goods handling method and apparatus, in which by shifting a plurality of goods contained in a container to a goods storage device having a plurality of goods storage sections which are arranged in no more than two rows, or otherwise by providing a pivot shaft of the shutter in the vicinity of a lower end portion of a side surface of a goods drop-out device, the constructions of shutters for opening and shutting the goods storage sections and actuators for actuating the shutters can be simplified, and a plurality of goods storage devices and goods drop-out devices can be arranged side by side in rows, thus enabling a saving of installation space.
(2) The prior art described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Sho 59-88110 had the following problems.
The step-like wagon constituting a wagon which also serves as a step is equipped merely with a drawer (a portion merely for storing goods) at a lower portion of the step surface. It does not disclose nor even suggest that goods stored in a storage apparatus are shifted to a goods take-out device which has been moved to the storage apparatus side, and that after goods, which have been taken out of the goods take-out device, are shifted to the goods drop-out device, goods are dropped out from the goods drop-out device.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a goods handling method and apparatus, in which by shifting goods stored in a storage apparatus to a goods take-out device which has been moved to the storage apparatus side, the shifting work of goods can be performed with ease.
(3) The prior art described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. Sho 63-175622 had the following problems.
In the above-mentioned publication, there is no description nor suggestion about such a construction wherein a plurality of goods storage sections are formed by partitions and the partitions are detachably engaged with a casing. Also, the goods drop-out device described in the above-mentioned publication is, in fact, capable of discharging goods, which are fed thereto in an orderly arranged plurality of rows, by a required number each time. However, as the drop-out port of a feed plate and a gate plate are formed in predetermined sizes in accordance with the sizes, the configurations, etc. of goods, the sizes, configurations, etc. of goods to be discharged are affected by the dimensions of the drop-out port of the feed plate and the gate plate. As a consequence, it is impossible to make it correspond to many kinds of goods having different configurations, etc. To make it correspond to many kinds of goods, it is required initially to prepare a plurality of feed plates each having a drop-out port corresponding to the size, configuration, etc. of each kind of goods and gate plates corresponding to the drop-out ports, so that every time the size of goods is changed, the feed plate and gate plate can be replaced with such initially prepared ones.
There was also such a problem as that it is impossible to drop out goods, which are fed in inverted states, by a required number, owing to the relation between the drop-out port of the feed plate and the gate plate.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a goods handling apparatus in which a goods storage section is formed in such a manner as to correspond to the sizes, configurations, etc. of goods, so that many kinds of goods can be effectively stored and reliably taken out.